Startup Garage 2020: Dunia Pay
African countries have been moving steadily towards the digitization of currency as the world evolves away from using physical currency, as digital currency is becoming more and more convenient. Though in concept the digital push seems to be a step towards global modernity, citizens of African countries often lack the resources they need to use these financial services including proper identification or access to a bank line of credit. This leads to about 1.5 billion Africans without bank accounts or access to financial institutions. DuniaPay is a service that allows Africans to transfer money using their mobile phone numbers — no bank required.
DuniaPay is founded on the concept of financial inclusion, a push to bring people without access to traditional financial institutions into the financial system using innovation and new technology. DuniaPay provides Africans and immigrants with an app that allows them access to bank account-like services, including money transfers and bill payments — all a user needs is a device on which to download the app, and a phone number to verify their identification. All services are offered directly in the app, allowing convenient access to digital financial services.
“We started in 2017 — it actually started as a different product,” says Serge Kiema of DuniaPay. “We first wanted to help immigrants send money to Africa.” Kiema says the company later realized that the biggest issue with sending money back home was not the process of sending the money, but instead the inability for relatives in Africa to receive the money being sent. “2017 was when I moved to Houston, and my friend was to receive a wire transfer from Africa that got lost. That made me want to start a company to help immigrants send money back home.”
Kiema explains that DuniaPay’s values are that they “want everyone to have access to basic financial services, even without having proper ID to get a normal bank account. We want people to be able to access the financial system easily.” He notes that financial inclusion is the company’s overall goal, and that DuniaPay places great value on solutions and innovation when it comes to digital finances in African countries. “What we do is we help people in Sub-Saharan West Africa send and receive money directly on their mobile phones.”
Since its launch in November 2019, DuniaPay has accumulated approximately four thousand users, and took only four months to begin generating revenue. They currently operate in Burkina Faso, and in the next year they want people to be able to access the app in other countries in Africa — by 2021 DuniaPay hopes to expand to fourteen more countries. As they grow, Kiema explains that “we’re looking to get access to mentors to better know how to run the company, structure marketing campaigns, and fundraising” through collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Hub and participation in the Startup Garage program.
*This feature was published as a part of the Startup Garage Company Series, 2020.
